Workflow forms definition

Workflow forms are based on formal XML definition. The DTD ( Document Type Definition ) defines the structure and the legal elements and attributes of an XML document.

You can see the latest DTD in our website http://www.openkm.com/dtd/workflow-forms-{major}.{minor}.dtd where {major} and {minor} values are two numbers ( major release and minor release ). For example the location for version 2.6 of the dtd is http://www.openkm.com/dtd/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd

Each application version supports only a couple of DTD definitions, read: Application version compatibility table to see which are supported by your application.

Basic XML skeleton

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE workflow-forms PUBLIC "-//OpenKM//DTD Workflow Forms 2.4//EN"
                                "http://www.openkm.com/dtd/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd">
<workflow-forms>

</workflow-forms>
  • The DOCTYPE is a formal definition of some DTD. In the previous example the workflow-forms-2.4.dtd.
  • The XML begins with <workflow-forms> tag and ends with </workflow-forms>. Into this hicheracy are defined the metada groups.

Workflow task form definition

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE workflow-forms PUBLIC "-//OpenKM//DTD Workflow Forms 2.4//EN"
                                "http://www.openkm.com/dtd/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd">
<workflow-forms>
  <workflow-form task="evaluate price">

  </workflow-form>
</workflow-forms>
  • Each  <workflow-form> ... </workflow-form>   block identify the beginning and end of new workflow form task definition.
  • Each task has a unique name, "evaluate price".
  • Must not use special characters for name.
AttributeDescriptionRequired

name

Unique field identifier.

Two metadata groups can't have the same name. Name must be unique.

The name must start with "okg:".

Must not use special character for task name. We suggest (0-9a-zA-Z_).

true

Basic example

Available field types:

  • Checkbox
  • Button
  • Download
  • Input
  • Select
  • Separator
  • Suggestbox
  • Text
  • TextArea
  • Upload

More information about field type elements at Workflow fields 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE workflow-forms PUBLIC "-//OpenKM//DTD Workflow Forms 2.4//EN"
                                "http://www.openkm.com/dtd/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd">
<workflow-forms>
  <workflow-form task="evaluate price">
    <input label="Purchase price" name="price" data="price" readonly="true" />
    <textarea label="Purchase description" name="description" data="description" readonly="true" />
    <button name="approve" label="Approve" transition="approve"/>
    <button name="deny" label="Deny" transition="deny"/>
  </workflow-form>
</workflow-forms>

Using file system DTD

If the server has no access to the Internet, then the DTD file must be accessible in some way, for example can store a copy in your application server.

The XML definition must be changed to refer to the new DTD location, otherwise you will get and application error while trying to process a DTD file.

It can be a file system ( example below ) or a valid intranet URL.

<!DOCTYPE property-groups PUBLIC "-//OpenKM//DTD Property Groups 2.4//EN"
                                 "file:///home/openkm/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd">
  • In the example, /home/openkm/workflow-forms-2.4.dtd is the file system path to the file.